Fine for company after worker's injury in unguarded machine

Date:

11 February 2013

Release No:

SCO/005/13

A Kilmarnock firm that makes engine parts has been fined after a worker was injured when his hand got trapped in unguarded machinery.

Kilmarnock Sheriff Court was told today (11 February) that the agency worker at the Riccarton site of Mahle Engine Systems UK Limited was a trainee operator working on the rolling mills when the incident happened on 20 October 2010.

He was attempting to free a strip of metal from the rolling mill when his gloved right hand became caught on an in-running nip and was trapped between two powered rollers.

His hand was released when a colleague dismantled the top of the unit. The injured worker said he was aware of the risks of in-running nip points on rollers but had felt he would be safe as he had turned off the rolling mill. He was unaware, and had never been told, that the tension rollers were powered separately and therefore kept running when the rolling mill was switched off.

The worker fractured two fingers on his right hand and required surgery on three fingers to repair tissue damage. He was able to return to work with Mahle Engine Systems UK Limited after two months.

An investigation into the incident by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the company failed to:

• make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks involved to the health and safety of their employees to prevent them becoming drawn in at the in-running nip on the tension unit rollers;
• provide such information, instruction, training and supervision as necessary to ensure the safety of workers attempting to feed sheet metal through the in-running nip on the tension unit rollers;
• have in place a system to ensure employees could work safely while working on the rolling mill;
• provide a fixed guard and safety devices to prevent access to a dangerous part of machinery, namely the in-running nip on the tension rollers of the rolling mill.

Mahle Engine Systems UK Limited, Riccarton, Kilmarnock, was fined £8,000 after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

After sentencing, HSE Inspector Russell Berry, said:

"This incident could easily have been avoided had the company taken the necessary precautions. The risks from in-running nip points on rollers are well known in the industry.

"The necessity for guarding in-running nips has long been recognised and clearly Mahle Engine Systems should have put measures in place to prevent the worker becoming trapped between the rollers.

"It is fortunate that he has been able to make a good recovery and return to work.

"The case has also resulted in improvements being made at the site. New guards were fabricated and installed on the rolling mills at the tension unit in-running nips and robust checks have been implemented by operators and maintenance staff on the adequacy and effectiveness of guarding arrangements on the machinery."

For more information and guidance about health and safety in the engineering industry log on to the HSE website at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/engineering/safety-topics.htm

Notes to editors

1. Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk
2. In Scotland the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has sole responsibility for the raising of criminal proceedings for breaches of health and safety legislation.
3. Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees."

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